- Hallmark holiday
"Hallmark holiday" is a disparaging term, used predominantly in the
United States , to describe aholiday that exists primarily for commercial purposes, rather than to commemorate a traditionally significant religious or secular event. The name comes fromHallmark Cards , a privately owned American company based inKansas City, Missouri , that benefits from such manufactured events through sales ofgreeting cards and other items. The company itself denies having any role in the creation of the holidays that bear this moniker. [ [http://pressroom.hallmark.com/how_holiday_becomes_card_holiday.html How a Holiday Becomes A Card sending Occasion] ,Hallmark . AccessedOctober 17 ,2007 . "While we're honored that people so closely link the Hallmark name with celebrations and special occasions, we can't take credit for creating holidays."] Holidays that have been referred to as "Hallmark Holidays" includeValentine's Day ,Mother's Day [Steiger, Thomas L. [http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_134101928.html "Thomas Steiger: What is it that we celebrate on Mother’s Day?"] , "Tribune-Star ",May 14 ,2007 . AccessedJune 7 ,2007 . "In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed a bill to recognize Mother’s Day as a national holiday on the second Sunday in May. I thought it was a “Hallmark Holiday.”"] ,Fathers' Day [Lukas, Carrie. [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/16/opinion/main1724288.shtml "Happy Father's Day!"] ,CBS News ,June 18 ,2006 . AccessedJune 7 ,2007 . "Father’s Day tends to get treated as just another “Hallmark Holiday.” And we have so many: Grandparents Day, Secretary’s (now the more politically correct “Administrative Professional’s”) Day, National Teacher’s Day, Take Your Daughter to Work Day — the list goes on. Yet if ever there was a need for a Hallmark Holiday, Father’s Day is it."] ,Sweetest Day [Frazee, mark. [http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2004/10/15/Campus/Sweetest.Day.Losing.Luster.On.Campus-755067.shtml "Sweetest Day losing luster on campus"] , "The Lantern ",October 15 ,2004 . AccessedJuly 20 ,2007 . "Cliched as the Hallmark holiday, Sweetest Day was founded by Herbert Kingston of Cleveland in 1922."] ,Christmas in July , [Levey, Bob. [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/32481860.html?dids=32481860:32481860&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=JUL+30%2C+1998&author=Bob+Levey&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=A+Hallmark+Holiday%3A+Christmas+in+July&pqatl=google "A Hallmark Holiday: Christmas in July"] , "The Washington Post ",July 30 ,1988 . AccessedJune 7 ,2007 . "For decades, the Hallmark greeting card people have given us stickily sentimental cards for every occasion. Their cards are so gooey that they've given rise to a new way to describe syrupy occasions. Call them Hallmark Holidays. Hallmark's Christmas in July was part of a nationwide promotion of Christmas tree ornaments, said Janice Moungelis, manager of Expressions Hallmark at White Flint."] andBoss's Day . [Usher, Penne. [http://www.auburnjournal.com/articles/2007/10/14/news/lifestyle/01lsbossday.txt "Take me to your leader:With National Boss's Day on Oct. 16, local employees share how their leaders still manage to inspire"] , "Auburn Journal",October 13 ,2007 . AccessedOctober 18 ,2007 . "It may be considered a Hallmark holiday to some, but there are Auburnites that genuinely believe their supervisors deserve special treatment on National Boss's Day."]Related to "Hallmark Holiday" is the pop-culture term "Hallmark Moment." It can suggest either a serendipitous event or encounter, or a sappy emotional appeal, especially manipulation of emotion for financial gain. [Caryn James, [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/movies/redcarpet/02teas.html "For Your Consideration: Sappy Hallmark Moments"] "
New York Times ",March 2 ,2006 ]References in popular culture
* "
The Simpsons " episode 5F10, "Trash of the Titans ", the retail corporations create a new holiday called "Love Day" which the Simpson family adopts without question.
* In the film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind " the character Joel states "Valentine's Day is a day invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap."
*Halloween has similarly been suggested to have been created by the candy companies; in " Hocus Pocus" one character gives this as the reason for his lack of excitement over the holiday, noting that it is a conspiracy; whereas in theCharlie Brown Halloween Special,Lucy van Pelt confides her belief "that is all controlled by a big eastern syndicate."References
Further reading
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*External links
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